Australia stars Shane Watson and Brad Haddin Tuesday revealed they were targeted by a suspected illegal bookmaker during last year's tour of England, as a major fixing scandal engulfed cricket.

The opening batsman and wicketkeeper said they were approached separately at team hotels by an Indian man who invited them for drinks, and was later identified as part of an illegal betting ring.

Watson, one of Australia's standout performers during their Ashes series defeat, said the man started talking to him in the breakfast room of London's exclusive Royal Garden hotel.

"It was an Indian fan, or that's what I thought it was, who knew a lot about me and what I was doing in the IPL (Indian Premier League)," Watson said.

"(He) was only too kind with his praise about how I've been playing and he enjoyed the way I played and then it got down to a bit more 'we'd like to take you out for drinks' and that sort of thing.

"I didn't think too much more of it until I found out a bit more information and that he was actually one of the illegal bookmakers."

Haddin said he received a knock on his hotel room door by a man who invited him for a drink.

"You don't usually get a knock on your door with someone asking you to come across to your room for a drink and then go out for dinner with someone you don't know," he said.

"They checked footage of who the person was and it was someone that they were well aware of. I'd never seen the person (before) or never heard from him or seen him since."

The accounts come after a British newspaper said it paid an alleged match-fixer 230,000 US dollars to organise no-balls by Pakistan during last week's fourth Test against England, reviving fears of widespread corruption.

The man, who was arrested and later bailed, also reportedly boasted that he earned 1.3 million US dollars for fixing January's Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan, when the visitors threw away a commanding position.

Cricket Australia called the report "most disturbing" but said it would wait for more evidence before making further comment.

The Australian newspaper said Pakistan's tour of Australia, where they lost all three Tests and five one-dayers, was under scrutiny after earlier warnings from International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-graft agents about possible fixing.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said the team had no suspicions during the Sydney Test, but added that all players were aware of approaches by bookmakers in recent years.

"We know what to do and we do it," Ponting wrote in The Australian.

"We let the team manager know straight away and the ICC is informed from there. You have to be so careful with everything you do now, everyone you meet, everywhere you go."

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones recalled being offered a cake tin full of cash during the 1992 tour of Sri Lanka, while ex-Test umpire Darrell Hair said the ICC feared Pakistan were deliberately no-balling as long as 10 years ago.

"When the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit was formed a decade ago they ... spoke to all the leading umpires and said there were concerns in tournaments in places like Sharjah that the Pakistanis were bowling (deliberate) no-balls and wides," Hair told the Daily Telegraph.

Columnists said cricket's credibility had been "destroyed" by the scandal, the sport's worst since South Africa's late captain Hansie Cronje admitted taking bribes in 2000.

"Cricket's already shaky integrity has been blown out of the water," said the Herald's Peter Roebuck in a front-page column.

"Credibility has been destroyed and it's not coming back until someone with guts gets hold of the game."